UW-Miami halftime thoughts

For as poorly as this game started, you have to be happy with a 17-7 halftime lead. I mean really, we've dominated this game with the exception of one play. It could be 24-0 or 28-0. Now the key is to make the proper halftime adjustments, or counter their adjustments.

It's funny that Miami has heaters on the sideline, it appears to be around 50 degrees. They're over there shivering (Donna Shalala in a parka!) while our guys are in short sleeves. That can't be good for their mindset.

Surprised that Miami called so many trick plays so early in the game. On one hand, it's a bowl game, you've had a chance to work on some new things like that. On the other hand, you're the prohibitive favorite, you should line up and play straight. Their kickoff return reverse was just beautiful, especially after seeing that aerial view showing that Shields actually lined up on the first line of blockers.

We've run the ball very well with Clay, he's been patient and let his blocking develop. On his long run, Travis Frederick and John Moffitt had picture perfect blocks. On his touchdown run Lance Kendricks blasted the defender backward. And Montee Ball has looked good in his carries of relief.

What a great half by Kendricks ... except for that end around, which we busted out for the first time since the Purdue game. Tolzien has been fairly sharp, the interception was a nice play by their defensive lineman.

J.J. Watt and O'Brien Schofield have played their usual game, and the other guy who's stuck out on defense has been Jay Valai. And other than that opening return, the special teams have been good with Brad Nortman and Philip Welch contributing nice kicks.

Miami looks out of synch right now offensively, and their defense has shown cracks. Jacory Harris looks hobbled, and they just lost their fastest back. It would be nice to get six right off the bat, make them predictable, and play keepaway with our running game.

Player development

In the wake of the disappointing 2008 football season, I wrote that perhaps the most alarming trend in the UW program under Bret Bielema's stewardship was the lack of player development. After all, it is likely that our recruiting efforts will always yield more two- and three-star players than four- and five-star, so if we're going to compete in the Big Ten we need to coach our kids up.

With four regular season games and a bowl left this season, it is not premature to say that a number of Badgers have shown significant improvement this season. Two stick out in my mind, one on offense, one on defense.

O'Brien Schofield: Something of an afterthought in a linebacker class that included Travis Beckum, Elijah Hodge and DeAndre Levy, he became a serviceable defensive end, then the best defensive end in the Big Ten. Also the team's vocal and emotional leader. Other guys like Mike Taylor, J.J. Watt, Chris Maragos and Chris Borland have made big plays this season, but Schofield has lived in opponents' backfields from the first defensive possession of the season, and gave hope that a unit that figured to be a weakness might be an asset.

Scott Tolzien: He's regressed a little against better defenses, but his play this year has been a definite upgrade over what we had last year. With lesser quarterback play, we're probably 4-4 at best this season, maybe worse. What's interesting is that Tolzien wasn't ready to play extensively last year, when Dustin Sherer and Allan Evridge disappointed. What happened for Tolzien this offseason? Better coaching? Or did the proverbial light bulb just go on?

What other Badgers have been two-star recruits, per Scout?

Going back to that class of 2005, Jonathan Casillas and P.J. Hill were both two-star recruits who are now on NFL rosters. Jae McFadden and Jeff Stehle were two-star recruits who are starting on a pretty good front seven. Garrett Graham was another two-star guy from that class, but it's hard to say he has developed in his time here since he was pretty good from the minute he started playing. The recruiting experts just missed on that one.

In the class of 2006, Gabe Carimi was a two-star recruit, and he's a future NFL left tackle. Mickey Turner, Isaac Anderson, John Moffitt, Jay Valai, Maurice Moore, Culmer St. Jean -- all two-star guys who have become big contributors to a team that has a chance to win 10 games.

A number of two-star guys who are contributing in their first and second years: Brad Nortman, Antonio Fenelus, Travis Frederick and Borland. That doesn't count Maragos, a walk-on.

Going through the lists, there aren't many guys who stick out like Schofield and Tolzien, who toiled in obscurity for several years before emerging as team leaders. The rest of these guys have just improved enough to play important roles on an above-average team. And that, not statistics or individual honors, is really the only way we will be able to gauge player development under Bielema: wins and losses.

Line not offensive at all

After thinking about it, I thought the offensive line played perhaps its best game of the year against Michigan State. The first two series were rocky (Jim Polzin reported that John Moffitt offered reporters $15 not to mention his early whiffs, funny stuff), but after that the play was really solid. We ran the ball effectively against what was by far the best run defense we've faced this year, and Scott Tolzien was given time to throw.

The interesting thing is, that wasn't the offensive line as it was projected at the beginning of fall camp. In fact, only the starting tackles were as projected. As far as I could tell, the line shaped up like this:

LT: Gabe Carimi
LG: John Moffitt
C: Peter Konz
RG: Kevin Zeitler
RT: Josh Oglesby

His camp injury aside, Carimi is a given, although the hold he was called for against MSU was pretty ugly. The fact that Oglesby has been largely unmentioned thus far can only be seen as a positive. The quality of competition he's going to face is about to getting dramatically better, hopefully he's built up enough confidence to play well against the likes of Ohio State and Iowa.

The interior spots are most interesting, though. Apparently Jake Bscherer has settled into a career as a backup. Is Travis Frederick healthy enough to go, or has Konz just played well enough to keep him on the bench? Same goes for Bill Nagy and Zeitler at right guard.

Tough to say. Without extensive video review it's often hard to determine the effectiveness of individual interior linemen. But it seems clear that Bob Bostad has about eight starting-caliber linemen at his disposal. Even better, not one of these linemen is a senior. As well as the offense has played so far, it's not a stretch to say that with just about everyone scheduled to return next year, the Badgers' 2010 offense could be one of the best we've had.

Scoreboard watching

Wednesday night I was watching some show on the Big Ten Network where Dave Revsine was interviewing John Clay. The theme of the show seemed to be breaking down plays on film, a la Ron Jaworski, although the level of analysis does not reach Jaws'.

Revsine asked Clay to break down his lon touchdown run against Fresno State, and John didn't have much to say. Because, basically, John took the handoff, ran through a huge hole, and then ran faster than anyone on the Bulldogs' defense.

He did say, though, that he looked up at the Jumbotron in the north end zone at Camp Randall, saw himself slowing down, and veered off a bit to keep separation. I'd read stories about guys doing that, but never a player at Camp Randall. I laughed, thinking about how far we've come in such a relatively short period of time. When we were in school, the most sophisticated use of the scoreboard was the animated "check your drink for bees" and "block that kick" prompts.

As for tomorrow's game, I'm looking forward to it. Wofford apparently runs the option, which was my favorite offense as a young college football fan in the 1980s. I loved Oklahoma under Barry Switzer. Jamelle Holieway was my favorite player; when I played football in backyard or a nearby park, I was him or Jerry Rice. When he got hurt in 1987, I was crushed. In art class that year, I drew a picture of him standing, with crutches, on the sidelines of the Nebraska game.

OK, too much information ...

Anyway, the option is fun to watch, but it's got to be a bitch to defend. With all the ball fakes and sleight of hand, you've really got to watch close, as Cal Poly showed us last year. So, you ask, why does Tappa love the option but hate the Spread, which employs many of the same principals? Easy: the option combines precision and athleticism with an emphasis on road-grading lines and power.

That said, if Wofford comes into Madison and pulls off the upset, I will rip up my Jamelle Holieway drawing and never try to run the Wishbone on Madden '95 ever again. They appear to be missing their best running back, but I'm guessing they have similar players to plug in.

On our side, I want to see us run for at least 300 yards. Scott Tolzien's passing proficiency thus far this year has been a pleasant surprise, but if we're going to win in the Big Ten, we've got to get back to Wisconsin football, anchored on offense by the run game. Hopefully John Moffitt will be back at center, but I'm not counting on it. Travis Frederick or Peter Konz are fine fill-ins, but we need Moffitt to beat Big Ten teams, and he needs to get some game work before Michigan State.

Defensively, I see O'Brien Schofield having a bunch of big hits in this one, even if some of them come on Wofford's quarterback shortly after he pitches the ball. The key in this one will be our linebacker play, let's see how disciplined those guys are.

Wisconsin-Fresno State thoughts

Very satisfied with the Badgers' win, lots to like. And, once again, lots on which to improve.

But let's focus on the former.

-The defense looked horrible in the first half, but the kids rallied to play a great second half and make big plays in overtime. Also give Dave Doeren for making appropriate adjustments.

-O'Brien Schofield was outstanding again, in the backfield a lot. He's playing at a much higher level than I anticipated thus far this season.

-Great play, of course, by Chris Maragos on the interception at the start of the second overtime. Fresno's quarterback, as noted earlier, had a lot of air under his throws all day, and it came back to hurt him there. Our defensive backs certainly struggled, but also made a few huge plays that they can hopefully build on.

-At one point it seemed like Johnny Clay's long touchdown run was going to be the story of the day. And it still might be. Our running game was punchless to that point, and Clay gave it a jolt. It reminded me of the first time I saw him, in the 2005 state championship game, when he busted out several runs like that against Wisconsin Rapids. It didn't look like he was running that fast, but nobody caught him.

-Another solid performance for Scott Tolzien. He had another play where he hung in against the blitz and converted a third down. Most importantly: no interceptions. No Curt Phillips, which was the sensible strategy given how important every possession was.

-Really like what Nick Toon is doing this season, most of his catches seem to come in important situations, not just that touchdown catch in overtime.

-We didn't seem to blitz as much as last week, wonder why.

-Boy, I hope our offensive line is healthy for the start of Big Ten play. Good for Peter Konz for holding his own after Travis Frederick went down, though.

-I thought Fresno would go for two after scoring the touchdown in the first overtime. Pat Hill, after all, is an eccentric genius of a coach. Don't know if you've heard this before, but his motto is "Anyone, anytime, anywhere." It's unbelievable that this guy doesn't have a WAC title to his name.

-My favorite moment of the game had nothing to do with the outcome of a play. There was a pass play to the perimeter where one of our guys made a tackle, and Jay Valai came up and decleated a Fresno lineman. That was 5-9, 201-pound Jay Valai absolutely blowing up 6-2, 280-pound Joe Bernardi. The hit adds to Valai's rep as a big hitter, and Bernardi will be embarrassed when that replay is shown.

-Michigan State loses to Central Michigan at home, maybe that game isn't as imposing as it looked eight days ago.

It's too nice outside to stay on the computer any longer, will think about this some more later. Happy to be 2-0, can't take Wofford too lightly. Seriously.

Hold it!

Perhaps among the sniffles-related stories that have unfolded surrounding the Badger football team this week -- who has the swine flu? J.J. Watt's mom brought him chicken soup? Josh Oglesby uses hand sanitizer? -- was one of the most interesting stories I've read recently.

It was a Jeff Potrykus Journal Sentinel story Thursday centered around line coach Bob Bostad's opinion of the holding call levied against Travis Frederick in the Northern Illinois game.

You should read the whole story, but here is a good quote:

"If you watch that play, the linebacker came into him, probably saw him coming up ready to engulf him, and turned his back to Travis and fell down. I talked to the officials and said we almost need to hold guys up to not get called for holding. Because this guy goes down on the ground of his own volition, and Travis is on top of him with his hand extended ... I mean, it's bad. It's getting to the point where ... "

Bostad then went on to discuss the hold called against John Moffitt in the Michigan State game last year. Had that call not been made, we would have won. Bostad caps it off with a gem:

" ... if we can't do that anymore, I might as well go coach field hockey."

I love it! Genuine candor and humor from a coach!

And really, I couldn't agree with him more. Did not see a replay of the Frederick hold, but that Moffitt call against MSU was god awful. Not only was it questionable, but it happened about 20 yards away from the play, a John Clay run around right end.

Bostad is certainly not suggesting that no one holds anymore; you certainly still see them a lot againt pass rushers. And wide receivers seem to be prone as well, just saw Hines Ward get flagged correctly, and he's arguably the best-blocking wideout on the planet.

But holding by lineman on running plays, in tight quarters where there are a lot of bodies, just shouldn't seem to happen as often as it's called. Almost as if refs have a quota to hit, like cops and speeding tickets.

Looks like Moffitt won't be ready to go again this week, so let's hope Frederick holds up well again ... no pun intended.

Speaking of sniffles stories, here is arguably the most useless story of the week, courtesy of Andy Baggot:

Postponement due to flu unlikely

No kidding. Here's betting Pat Hill doesn't give a rat's ass that Tyler Westphal spent a little more time at the toilet than usual this week.

As for the game, Fresno should be a good test, and I see this game going down to the fourth quarter like last week. But ultimately, they've got a quarterback making his first career start on the road, and Camp Randall isn't a good place for that, so I'm thinking our defense makes enough stops to win.

26-20 Badgers

Wisconsin-Northern Illinois halftime thoughts

By my reckoning, the Badgers should be up 21-3 right now, not 14-6. As much as I've been pleased with the play in general, the same sloppiness that killed us last year crept into our first half play.

-Jae McFadden's stupid, stupid facemask gives Northern three points.

-Travis Frederick's hold on a nice Zach Brown run kills a drive that seemed headed for the end zone.

Mistakes happen, but we don't have the overwhelming talent or veteran savvy that allows us to shrug it off easily.

Other thoughts:

-Rascal Flatts for the Big Ten Network's theme song? Check the demographics, BTN, not a good call.

-No windbreaker for Bielema? Did he ditch thtat last year?

-Needless to say, nice way for Scott Tolzien to begin his first game as a starter. It helped that Isaac Anderson was so wide open Allan Evridge could have hit him. Tolzien has played pretty well so far. Anderson and Garrett Graham getting so open helps.

-On Anderson's reverse touchdown, Gabe Carimi got out on the perimeter and created enough interference to let Ike find the end zone. Shades of Joe Thomas.

-Like the depth on Philip Welch's kickoffs thus far, reaching the end zone consistently.

-On defense, J.J. Watt and O'Brien Schofield are playing very well. Watt is Matt Shaughnessy's height, but with more bulk and seemingly more quickness. He's behind the line of scrimmage a lot. Schofield, too, and he's lining up without a hand on the ground. Also seen him dropping back into coverage on what appear to be zone blitzes.

-Seems like we're blitzing a lot, which I like. Our defense is probably going to give up some big plays this year -- why not blitz and try to increase the odds of us turning big plays? Blake Sorensen has made more plays in the first half than he has in his career thus far, it seems he may have found a role as a blitzer.

-Mike Taylor is living up to the hype earlier. Tackle for loss, and the strip/fumble recovery was beautiful. As the announcers pointed out, it came after he made a sound tackle. Hope the injury he suffered isn't serious.

-Couple rough patches for Aaron Henry. He really blew a tackle on Northern's one big play of the half, and his interference penalty was blatant. Hope it doesn't mess with him mentally.

-Always love to see the new kids out there. Chris Borland has been in a lot, as have Antonio fenelus and Anthony Mains.

-See that block Nick Toon threw on that Northern defender? He blew him up! Love it when our receivers contribute as blockers.

We should be in fine shape here, but we also should have stepped on their throats by now.

Travis Frederick

Last fall when Big Foot played Wautoma for the Division 4 championship, I zeroed in on Travis Frederick. He looked enormous, which wasn't really a surprise, and fairly mobile, but it was still hard to get a read on how his size and skills would translate to Division 1 college ball.



Pretty well, it seems. Now Frederick is being mentiond in the same breath as Cory Raymer, Bob Winckler, and Dennis Lick. Not bad company.


With John Moffitt still laid up we'll get a chance to see how good this kid is right away. I expect he'll struggle at times, but how often is that painfully obvious with a center? Unless Northern Illinois has the MAC version of Albert Haynesworth, I bet he holds his own.


With Moffitt, Bill Nagy, and Gabe Carimi all missing time this camp because of injuries, guys like Frederick and Kevin Zeitler are getting a lot of reps. That can only help the O-Line's depth, and here's the best thing: all 10 guys on the two-deep return next year. If things go right we could be looking at one of those really, really good Badger lines.

Shelby Harris

While feeding Charlie at 3 a.m. Monday night, I had a chance to watch the Division 1 state champoinship game between Hartland Arrowhead and Homestead. The two teams were meeting for the third straight year ... yawn. Much better game than the last two, however, and Homestead pulled out the win.

I focused in on Wisconsin recruit Shelby Harris, same as I did with Big Foot's Travis Frederick last week. Let me tell you: watching one lineman for an entire game and not focusing on the ball is both difficult and tedious.

But it was revealing. As with Frederick, in Harris I saw an athletic big body who did not exactly dominate, but showed flashes of how he did dominate against lesser teams, and how he could be a contributor at the college level.

Harris looks like a defensive end. It seems like I've read in places that he's a defensive tackle prospect, but he's not built that way, and the pad level he plays at is better suited for end. He played off blocks well. Arrowhead often attempted to cut block him on runs to the opposite side, but he showed good footwork to avoid those type of blocks. He's quick.

At times he was overwhelmed by Arrowhead's linemen, especially by double teams. This is forgivable, as Arrowhead has some really big boys up front. If he ends up at end in college, he won't see double teams like that, but in high school he's one of the biggest kids and has to play inside. He pursued plays well, but didn't seem to have a thirst for contact like some kids have. Even so, he had some nice hits.

Another impressive player in the game was Arrowhead kicker Jeff Budzien. Apparently we're not recruiting him, and I'm not sure why. Philip Welch had a nice freshman season, but as Cal Poly would tell you, you can never have enough good kickers.

Two other notes of local interest to me:

Waupaca won the Division 3 title with an exciting win over Reedsburg. I'm told that Wisconsin is interested in Comets quarterback Brock Jensen as a walk-on. Brock did most of his damage in the title game running the option, and he's a nice athlete, but he also put up some great passing numbers this year and showed a decent arm in Madison. We've got Jon Budmayr coming in at that spot, and are happy with him, but it would be cool to see a local kid end up in Madison.

The player of the game for Waupaca against Reedsburg was Mike Solberg, a tough running back who also assisted on a big tackle on the Beavers' two-point conversion late. Solberg looked like every bit the prospect Bradie Ewing is. He and Jensen will probably have plenty of offers from Division II and III colleges, but the allure of suiting up for the Badgers has to be strong.

Travis Frederick

It's state championship time for Wisconsin high school football, always a fun time of year if you're a fan. Tonight UW recruit Travis Frederick and Walworth Big Foot are playing against Wautoma in the Division 4 title game at Camp Randall, and I watched the first half.

Couldn't get a great gauge on the guy. He looks bigger than the other kids, but since most of the linemen are bundled up everyone looks a little bigger than usual. He seems to be pretty mobile, and Big Foot likes to get him pulling and blocking downfield. Problem is, Wautoma's defense is pretty quick and oftentimes the play flowed right and Frederick was downfield looking for someone to block while the ball carrier was getting blocked. Whenever he does engage a defender he gets the job done convincingly. He's listed as 6-5, 310, but he looks a little shorter than that, and I see him fitting in at guard or center.

I'm recording tomorrow's Division 1 game tomorrow, which for the third straight year features Homestead vs. Arrowhead. Defensive line recruit Shelby Harris plays for Homestead, I'm hoping for big things from him. And don't forget about Waupaca, which plays Reedsburg at 10 a.m. in the Division 3 title game.

One last note on the Division 4 game: When Schwib and I were in Oshkosh, Wautoma was in our coverage area. If memory serves, in 2000 they tried to drop their football program but the school board didn't let them. To go from the brink of extinction to the state title game in less than a decade is pretty incredible.

Welcome new Badgers

The football program has added six new recruits lately, filling out the class at a variety of positions. I used to get a lot more excited about this part of the college football experience, but not as much any more. We could sit around gnashing our teeth about all these three-star guys (why aren't we getting more four- and five-star guys?!?!?!?) but for the past 15-plus years the program has been built on three-star guys who have worked to improve and been coached up to an elite level. Anyway, here are the latest soon-to-be Badgers:

Montee Ball, RB, Wentzville, Mo.
He's 5-11, 200 pounds, the right size for a back. He's rushed for about 5,000 yards in his sophomore and junior years, and has about 4.5 speed. We beat Kansas and Missouri for him. Scout has him as the 48th best back in his class.

Zac Matthias, OL, Hemlock, Mich.
Typical of the guys we recruit to play the line - 6-6, 305. We beat Michigan State and some MAC schools for him. Read a quote from his high school coach who said that if Lloyd Carr was still at Michigan, Matthias would have been holding out for an offer from them, but since RichRod is at Ann Arbor playing touch football, we got him.

Jon Lechner, OL, Omaha
Another 6-6 kid, primarily a run blocker. We beat out home state Nebraska for this guy. Apparently there's been some conflicting reports or wavering here, as Lechner's name has disappeared from the commit list.

Chris Borland, LB, Kettering, Ohio
Don't know much about this dude, but he's from a football hotbed, and I'm always for taking kids from Ohio. A linebacker from the Columbus area, doesn't seem like you can go wrong with that.

Brian Wozniak, TE, Loveland, Ohio
Another Ohio boy, I love it! He's 6-5, 225, already pretty good size for the position, and it stands to reason he'll grow. Looks like we beat Louisville, Maryland, and MAC schools for this guy.

Travis Frederick, OL, Walworth, Wis.
A Wisconsin kid! Travis is a 6-5, 302-pound tackle, the kind of kid we've built the program on over the years. He's also a really good student, over a 4.0 GPA, so you figure he's a good character guy.

Gotta wonder why the rash of recent commitments. Most likely offers coming after summer camps. Or are the coaches just pushing to get their recruiting done so they can spend the rest of the summer playing golf?